Tales Of The Sazi 05 - Moon's Fury (45 page)

He let out a frustrated sound, between a growl and a bark and slapped his tail on the ground.

"And if you fail, and the magic in the venom gets in the binding …then what?”

Cara looked at him with calm assurance. "It won't. I swear I won't risk the pack." She smiled gently and leaned down to kiss the tip of his ear before whispering, "I won't risk losing
you,
my Alpha. Not when I've just barely fallen in love with you.”

He let out a small growl that was mostly filled with defeat, but he knew his scent was pride and happiness and the warm scent of cookies baking that even made Jill smile. "Do what you need to do.”

With a nod, she used her fingers to reopen the fang wounds and then closed her eyes. He didn't try to do anything, but let her draw on him as she closed her mouth over the hole and pulled some of the venom onto her tongue.

This is madness. We can't have any idea what this will d
—

Fire erupted into Cara's mind as the magical venom touched the binding and began to burn through their links. More howls joined her own and soon they were all thrashing on the stone, with blood leaking from around their eyes and frothing on their tongues. Will and Ume let out terrible screeches and dropped from the air like twin stones, landing in the treetops and crashing to the ground.

¡Madre de Dios!
Adam was right. She was going to kill them all! Her heart started pounding so hard she could feel it in her eardrums. Again she drew on her healing ability, felt it recoil against the powerful venom. But she surrounded it, coaxed it, and finally felt it halt in its path. But it was still in their binding and she had to move it out of their system and into Jenny's mind. The only way to do that was to
become
the venom. She pulled on the bitter acid, pulled it out of bodies of the others and into herself. She heard Adam shout a warning and suddenly turn human, as he reached for her inside her mind. But she slammed the connection shut once the stinging power was inside her and then she threw herself on top of Jenny's body and locked her arms around the warm wolf, now beginning to wake.
I
can't risk the pack, and if I fail, Adam might still survive.
She reached outward and found the wolf's mind. There was nothing human here, but her own wolf understood the mental processes. This time, her wolf didn't fight her because the young one was sick; needed healing. She felt her body lurch as Jenny woke and tried to rise and Cara finally managed to find her voice. "Keep her still. Hold Jenny down!”

Adam raced to comply and then she felt the touch of Jill's slender fingers and Tommy's thicker ones. The wolf snapped and snarled and dug claws into her legs as she opened herself to the wolf, let healing magic, laden with burning venom, flow into the girl's mind. The wolf screamed under her, then started slavering and throwing venom-laced froth to land on bare skin.

Cara ignored the pain, and the screams and swearing as she was doused with cold water to ease the searing flesh.

She just kept her eyes shut and sent flooding magic into the scarred brain. She wished there was time for delicacy, but there was none. She couldn't let the others know she was pulling from her own reserves, rather than from the pack. Little by little, her body started to shut down—her fingers and toes growing numb and cold and then her limbs, as the venom cleaned mental passages. Finally, all that was left was her own heartbeat and even that was slowing, but she felt a spark in the wolf's mind— a spark that was most definitely human. More power, that last little bit, even though there was no more to spare. Then a stray thought reached her and it made her smile.
I
wonder what
froth would look like in black and white?

Just before the last stuttering thump closed her eyes, she felt Adam's strong arms wrap around and pull upward frantically. And she heard a hoarse, muffled voice from underneath her that made it all worthwhile.

"Mom?"

34

"I swear TO God! If you ever do anything like that again,
stupida
—" Yolanda's frustrated voice drowned out even the bright mariachi music from the band at the front of the room.

"It wasn't stupid." Cara looked at her friend, whose face moved from anger to worry. She clutched her hand and Cara winced. The acid burns were still a little sensitive. Jill said her healing would have to rebuild over time, so they'd had to concoct a story about her car battery exploding to explain the scars on her face and hands. She motioned to the dance floor with her head. "Does that look stupid to you?”

Gloria was entering the room on Paco's arm, resplendent in her Quinceanera dress. The cast on her leg had been custom-dyed to match, but it still wasn't quite the effect her niece had hoped for. The band moved into a slow waltz. She couldn't believe that Paco was going to try this, considering he'd had to fill one shoe with tissue paper to get it to even stay on. But it was his little girl's day and how could she reach adulthood without her Papi?

Her three new amigas—Jenny, Ziri, and Ume—watched her in only slightly less elegant, matching dresses with pride in their scent and tears rolling down their faces. They held hands fiercely as their adopted papi, Paco, took a deep breath and handed his cane to Eddie. Ziri's fingers still had a little yellow oil paint on them that even the scrubber sponge couldn't remove. She had been trying to re-create Van Gogh's style for the better part of a week now.

For Ume, Paco really was the only father she had left. Tony and Bobby had arrived to find their village destroyed and many of the people killed, probably by the same men who had taken the girls. Ziri's family had been moved and Ziri would soon join them in some hidden location, but Ume would remain here so Will could train her in her new abilities. After all, she was
familia
now—part of the pack. Paco held out his hand to take Gloria's and she looked up at her father warmly. In her golden necklace, strapless gown that showed her very adult curves, and a beautiful smile under a cascade of fresh and waxed flowers, she truly did look like a princess today. The lights in the room dimmed and the slowly spinning disco ball threw dancing lights of all colors around the room. Cara smelled pine trees and lemongrass enter the hall and smiled. Adam had made it after all. But she didn't search for him with her eyes. She could feel him walk across the room to talk to Will. Instead, she watched Paco and Gloria stumble through a few steps before the girl's date stepped in to whisk her away—as much as one can be
whisked
in a cast. Rosa looked so proud as he limped back to his chair. It had only been a week since nearly dying, and here he was, dancing! Rosa felt her smile and met her eyes happily before helping her husband into his chair. Then she sat down next to Papi who watched his granddaughter with the same pride and warmth. She knew she'd be able to convince him eventually to join in the binding. He, too, was noticing the closeness of the pack and she sensed the longing of the wolf in him for a pack to call his own.

"No, not so
stupida,
I suppose." Yolanda's voice was soft and close to her ear, so only Cam could hear, but she could make out the slight cracking in the words that matched the emotions that rolled off her.

"I'm very proud of you, Cara." She looked up at the table's other occupant with mixed emotions. Ten Bears had returned early from the powwow, brought back by Will from near Albuquerque. So much had changed between them in these few days. He'd moved from her most trusted confidante to…something else. But she didn't know what. He still looked the same, yet so very different now that she knew the truth. Will was the true shaman, had always been the shaman—while Ten Bears only repeated what he was told to keep up the appearance to her pack; to protect his great-great-grandfather's secret identity. He couldn't offer more information because he didn't have any to give. But did that negate all the long talks over quiet dinners where he'd given good advice? Did it take away the honest emotion that she'd smelled over the years, or the tea—however illegal—that had gotten her safely this far?

"Thank you, Ten Bears. I'm glad you could be here for this.”

He dipped his head in acknowledgment. "I'm glad so many of us could be here for this. When Will told me of the future he'd seen—”

It was a good point. "Why did we only lose Luis? Didn't you say that
several
of my pack would die?" She still couldn't quite get over the fact that her Tio Luis was gone. He'd meant so much to them all. They were dealing with it in the only way they knew how, with tears and prayers. Penny had the pack to help her through it; helping her to be strong for her children. Luis, Jr.—Louie—the oldest, would take over the store, and had helped set up the supposed
accident
that had claimed his father's life. The police bought it. Luis had been known for working too long, and drinking too much, and taking risks at the store without helpers. The tendency had put more than one cast on his body, because he wasn't a strong enough shifter to heal without help. So finding him crushed by a massive antique oak wardrobe hadn't seemed out of line to the officers or ambulance attendants. Of course, it helped that Will happened to be shopping for furniture that day, and helped
convince
them.

Ten Bears smiled, that quiet, patient smile she'd known for so long. Was it really Will's smile she was seeing, faked for so long that it had become his own? "You changed the future, Cara. It was
Paco
and Rosa
who were meant to die…not Luis, but I couldn't bear to tell you. When you accepted the help of another, the timeline altered. Five years ago, or even one, you wouldn't have allowed yourself to get close to Adam. You would have fought the binding and your sister and her family would have paid the price.”

"I know." He was right. But her family
had
paid a price, one she wasn't sure could ever change. One of the pack was gone, would never return. And as she looked out over the crowd, she saw how the pack members gathered together at tables—including the new members who nobody except the wolves ever met before today. She could see the suspicion in the eyes of her
other
pack, the dozens of human
familia
who now felt a difference. They saw a closeness among the shifter members that hadn't been there a month before and jealousy had been born out of the noticing. She didn't have to walk up to each person to smell it…the fans in the room corners carried it to her nose. However slight, there was a rift now—and she vowed she wouldn't let it grow to the level of fear and hate that she'd experienced through the minds of Jenny, Jill, and, yes, Adam. The Minnesota pack had allowed it to go too far. No, she would find some way to include the others in the circle. Maybe they could all help with Luis's float. It was now going to be a tribute to him and their family's contribution to past Tequila Days events. And just for this year, it would
be
Tequila Days. The city council had agreed to honor Luis with that small gesture

…after the impassioned pleas of many older citizens at a special meeting. Definitely, the whole pack would participate. They were all Sazi, would be Sazi for as long as she ruled. She would keep her pack
whole.

"I know you will." She looked up to see Adam smiling down at her and touching the chair next to her. "We'll keep it whole together.”

Cara believed him, because she could feel the determination inside him. She felt other things, too, and they made her smile. "I was afraid you weren't going to make it.”

"I should have made
you
work with Councilwoman Calibria. She's a total pain in the ass.”

She chuckled, remembering the tall, demanding Belgian woman who'd arrived and treated them all like the lowest of peasants who were expected to do her bidding and then
thank her
for the privilege. She threaded her fingers through his and raw power flowed through her, giving her a little boost of strength as he nodded a greeting to Yolanda and Ten Bears. Yo touched Ten Bears's hand and they both stood up and offered excuses to give them a little privacy. Cara watched Yo walk across the small room to chat with Stephanie, who was looking a little lonely in the corner. Billy had put in his notice yesterday and the deputy couldn't quite decide how she felt about it. Ten Bears wandered over and clapped Will on the shoulder.

"Thankfully, she doesn't like me. I couldn't stand to be around the woman even back in academy, especially since her voice is high-pitched enough to shatter glass. It hurts my ears to be in the same room as her. I can't imagine how you stand it. But has she had any luck with the investigation?”

Adam rolled his eyes and snorted. "Her
voice
doesn't bother me too much. It's the rest of her I can't stand. But she is remarkably good with cleanup and thinks she might know who our
Roberto
really is. She just needs to bring in another council member to be sure before she says anything. Of course, that doesn't mean they can find him, since Will and Ume lost his trail." He looked down at her hand, which had started to tremble again. She just couldn't seem to hang onto energy since healing Jenny. It came and it went again. Jill said it would probably take months to get back to normal. "You doing okay? Do you want to leave and go lie down and rest for a bit? I'd be happy to drive you home.”

She reached her head up to whisper in his ear. "If
you
take me home to lie down, I won't get any rest." The proprietary chuckle that slipped out of his mouth made her happy. He cupped her chin and gave her a slow, light kiss that was filled with his tongue and his scent. But the wolf was too tired to play and ignored the invitation. Probably time to change the subject. "Has anyone heard from Missy Foster?”

Adam nodded. "She apparently left a note in Will's car. The pack didn't notice her leaving when they followed us to the cave. She's leaving town and is going to go back to the bayou to stay with her father for now. Will used a little persuasion on the hospital staff to make them believe they authorized her release. He said he's going to wander that way as soon as he can get a few days off. She's ready to talk, I think, and we need to find out more about the history of this group. Bobby and Tony can only do so much. They're on their way to Columbia based on information they found at the village, but it sure would help to find out what they're going to walk into before they arrive.”